Two strangers stood as they approached the table. Jonathan and Eun Ho Lowrie smiled warmly at Selena, their eyes filled with tears.
Selena took in the ruggedly handsome looking Irish or Scottish man. He had red hair, a beard, freckles and brown eyes like hers. Then a petite, but breathtaking asian woman stood beside him. She looked like a movie star. So these were the people responsible for her looks. She was half asian. It was relieving to finally know who she was culturally.
"Hello, Selena," Jonathan said, his voice shaking with emotion. "We're so glad to finally meet you." The petite, yet beautiful Asian woman eyes dripped with tears and her nose was red. She was so elegant. "I'm Jonathan Lowrie and this is your Mother, Eun Ho."
Selena felt overwhelmed. "Lowrie?" she thought as her mind raced a million miles a second. She trembled.She didn't know what to say or do. All she could do was stare at these strangers who claimed to be her parents.
"Hello." Selena said in a trembling voice.
"Let's go sit down and talk." Eun Ho said as her hand reached out and gripped her wrist. The woman's hand shook as she confirmed the half moon birthmark.
Selena looked at her new found biological mother with trepidation as she grabbed her wrist suddenly. The lady was practically vibrating like her.
"My Moon, my Dal-Rae." Eun Ho's voice shook with emotion.Her daughter was beyond her expectations. She was stunning and had huge adorable eyes.
Molly reached out protectively and then withdrew her hand and looked down.
A.A translated the Korean to "Moon's Child" but Selena already had a grasp of the language. It was as common as English in the Hub."You are so thin." Eun Ho pulled her full of concern, inviting her into the private room.
"She eats a lot, but she usually works it off running around." James said. They fed her well. This kid could put it back.
Selena's eyes widened as she took in the two teens sitting at the table. McKenna and Jonah Lowrie looked just as shocked and confused as Selena felt.
McKenna's eyes locked onto Selena's, a mixture of emotions swirling in their depths, they darted to Molly, shock crossing her face and a nervous look crossed her face. McKenna looked back at her again, the familiar indignant and arrogant look settling in. Her resting bitch face.
Selena felt a jolt of rage and resentment as she met McKenna's gaze. This was the girl who had made her life a living hell in her past life. 71 years of maturity could not relieve her of her hatred of her. She used her own biological family's wealth to hurt her. Selena hated her.
Jonah, on the other hand, looked like he was in a daze. His eyes darted between Selena, Molly, James, his parents and McKenna as if trying to process the revelation.
"The reason we're brought home and did not head straight for Seoul is here. McKenna, this is Molly MacDonald, your real mother. You were switched at birth." Eun Ho ripped the bandaid off.
The tension in the room was palpable, and Selena felt like she was stuck in a nightmare. She didn't know what to say or do, or how to react to this sudden turn of events. All she could do was sit there, frozen in shock, as the Lowries and Molly and James tried to navigate this explosive new reality.
"No. It's not true. It's not real." McKenna yelled. A glass soared through the air and shattered on the door. McKenna proceeded to meltdown the way a child would.
Molly cried as she looked at her daughter. She had Maria's cheekbones, she was a MacDonald and a Gonzales. That was unmistakably her daughter. She felt Selena cling to her in fear.
Eun Ho's expression turned stern as she stepped forward, her voice firm but calm. "McKenna, stop it right now. This is very unacceptable." But McKenna was beyond reason, her face red with rage as she continued to scream and throw things.
Molly's eyes filled with tears as she watched her daughter's meltdown, her heart aching with a mix of sadness and worry. She knew that McKenna's temper was a trait she had inherited from her biological father's side of the family.
Jonathan placed a hand on Eun Ho's arm, his voice low and soothing. "Let's just calm down, okay? We can talk about this and figure things out."
But McKenna was too far gone, her anger and hurt boiling over like a pot left unattended. Selena watched the scene unfold, her eyes wide with shock and concern. She had never seen anyone lose control like that before.
"Your life? What about mine?" Selena said, filled with anger.
"What about my Mother, she's been through a lot. Stop acting like a child!" Selena said with the mature and unaffected tone McKenna used to use on her when it was unfair to her.
Selena gripped Molly's arm like a security blanket. She was enraged, she hated McKenna in this lifetime and in the last. Now she learned that the shrew had stolen her life and tortured her her whole past life.
McKenna's eyes flashed with anger as she turned to Selena, her face twisted in a scowl. "You think you're better than me, just because you're the REAL daughter?" she spat, her voice venomous. "You think you're so much better than me TRASH?"
But Selena just looked at her calmly, her expression unwavering. "I'm not trying to be perfect, McKenna. I'm just trying to be honest. You're acting like a child, and it's not fair to everyone else. Our families are both going through something pretty intense, but you are just thinking about yourself. Read the room."
McKenna's face turned red with rage, and for a moment, it looked like she was going to lunge at Selena with a butter knife. But then, something seemed to snap inside of her, and she collapsed to the floor, sobbing uncontrollably. "I hate you, I hate you so much. I wish I was dead."
Selena watched her meltdown, she kind of wished McKenna was dead too, with a passion, for at least 60 years now. She ached to agree, she indeed wished McKenna was dead and in a hole somewhere, but she had to spare Molly's feelings.
Other than McKenna's sobbing, the room quietened, with everyone staring at McKenna in shock.
Eun Ho and Jonathan exchanged a worried glance, while Molly looked on with a mixture of sadness and concern.
Selena just stood there, her eyes fixed on McKenna, a look of calm on her face. She watched the meltdown like she watched many child's in the future/past, some who lost everything. Some who lost limbs. Her and McKenna got a bad shake of things but they were lucky.
"Stand up, McKenna and wipe your face." Molly said. She knew she had to lead this girl firmly or she'd become as terrifying as Maria, her grandmother.
She pushed a napkin into the kids hand mustering all the confidence and dressing confidence she earned working with the cattiest and vengeful exotic dancers. She felt no remorse about the callus she developed.
"You think you can boss me around?" McKenna said with an outraged tone. Her heart pounded as she saw red. This low class, white trash bitch was her Mother? She wasn't even Korean either. The useless struggle of learning another language seemed so pointless now.
"Yes I do, I will and can. Now wipe your face. Sit down before I teach you what wanting to be dead really feels like." Molly said. She had to be dominant or she'd be walked over. It happened with Maria. It wouldn't continue with her own flesh and blood. No way in hell.
McKenna's eyes widened in shock and anger at Molly's firm tone, but she seemed to falter for a moment, unsure of how to respond. She looked like she was about to erupt again, but then she seemed to deflate, her shoulders slumping as she wiped her face with the napkin.
Selena watched the exchange with interest, her eyes flicking between McKenna and Molly. She could see the steel in Molly's spine. The determination to take control of the situation and not let McKenna's tantrum get the best of her.
This steel wasn't used on her too much, only the stupidest day of her life. Selena understood why now. She was a breeze at her worst.
Eun Ho and Jonathan exchanged a worried glance, but they seemed to be letting Molly take the lead, at least for now.
McKenna, on the other hand, looked like she was seething, her eyes flashing with anger and resentment. "Sit down." Molly said sternly.
As McKenna sat down, Molly's expression softened slightly, but her voice remained firm. "Good. Now, let's talk about this like civilized people. We have a lot to discuss, and not a lot of time to waste."
Molly straightened out her dress, showing a cool facade. She understood why Eun Ho was so matter-of-fact with the girl. The girl needed a steel hand or she'd be a terror. She needed a regimented and institutionalized education like James, to quell the rebellion and fire that was written into her genes.